The Other Side of GoodBye
by The-Sparkling-Sad-Diamond-87
Summary: Liberty Townsend can't understand why a man named Richard Logan keeps following her. After her friend, Teresa, mysteriously disappears, she decides it's time to find this man and discover exactly what he wants from her.


Hiya! This is my first National Treasure fan fiction, but I'm working on another one that involves time travel. I'm doing quite a bit of research for it, which will slow down updates for this.

I'm not entirely sure exactly where I want this to go, but I do have an idea. It starts out a bit slow, although, it picks up a bit later. I hope you enjoy and please leave a review.

**Note: **I'm looking for a Beta reader if anyone would like to volunteer.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own National Treasure in any size, shape, or form. I do own any original characters.

The Other Side of Good-Bye  
Chapter One  
Marching Bands and Department Store Stands

It was too crowded, much too crowded for this time of the night. People seemed to swarm into the building in all directions talking loudly, some happily while others spoke with anger in their voices. After a few moments, the noises blended together into one extremely loud buzz.

Liberty stood behind the counter of the department store frowning at the number of customers flooding into the building. Each one of them seemed to be around the same age- mid teens- and wearing the same ugly orange tie-dyed shirts. On the back in large blue letters were printed words, which read: **Clayton High School Marching Band**. That explains the crowd, she thought.

The teens swept past her counter quickly heading toward the elevator to go up to the upper floors. She was relived, to say the least. It was her worst fear to have one hundred teenagers flood her area with designer jeans and shirts, all gossiping and chewing bubble gum. Liberty shuddered. The noise could still be heard even though she was sure half of the band was terrorizing the upper floor now.

Of course, Liberty was really stereotyping. Not all teenagers could possibly be bubblegum chewing, magazine reading airheads. She certainly had not been. Interested in history and music, she spent most of her time in high school studying only leaving her bedroom on Friday nights for the football games she was required to attend. She had been in her school's marching band.

With a grin, she thought how completely unfair she was being to the group of band members. I'm just tired, Liberty thought. Maybe if I could ever go home and sleep, I would be a bit nicer to the customers.

Liberty lived in a small house on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. Her house, cozy and in an ideal neighborhood, had belonged to her parents before they decided to move to Arizona on a whim. She had hated to see them go, but had delighted in the idea of having her "own" home. At least, she could pretend it was hers. Technically, it still belonged to her parents, but since she paid the bills and made minor repairs, she thought of it more as her residence now. Too bad she didn't have more time to actually stay there.

Most of Liberty's day consisted of working. Graduating from college three years before, she had found it difficult to find a job where a major in history was needed. So in need of money, she had taken a job at Frankfort's Department Store singing in her spare time.

Lost in thought about sleeping and her home, Liberty failed to notice the clink of high-heeled shoes on the polished floor. A hand rang the bell on her desk, and Liberty's head snapped up to find the smiling face of Teresa Hobstein. Teresa grinned at her surprised expression.

"Day-dreaming again, are we?" Teresa asked good-naturedly.

"Of course," Liberty replied. "Is there something you want?"

Teresa rarely ever traveled from the upper floors unless she wanted something. After seeing the group stampede through her floor, she figured Teresa was seeking refuge. "No, I don't."

"Really?" Liberty cocked an eyebrow. "Why don't I believe you?"

"I suppose you saw that mob head up the escalator," Teresa said. "Fine, I lied, but they're only part of the reason I came down. The second has to do with a guy I saw about twenty minutes ago."

Rolling her eyes, Liberty groaned while Teresa smiled.

"If I say I don't care, are you going to tell me anyway?" Liberty asked.

"Yes," Teresa replied. She propped her elbows up on the counter. "Well, I was just standing behind the counter like you're doing right now, and this man comes up to me. I think he was English…at least he sounded English. Anyway, he asked if I knew of a Liberty Townsend."

At this Liberty's eyes narrowed a bit. "A man asking for me?"

"Yeah," Teresa said. "I thought you might be related or something so I told him you were working downstairs."

"What?" Liberty interrupted. "You told this stranger that I was downstairs?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know you didn't know him?" Teresa was looking at Liberty like she was completely overreacting.

Liberty sighed and shook her head. Teresa could be a huge ditz sometimes, especially if it was something serious. "Continue…"

"You interrupted me, but like I was saying…he seemed like it was really important that he talk to you."

"Is that it?" Liberty asked. "He never came down here so it must not have been too important."

"Would you stop interrupting me?" Teresa looked a bit ticked off. Liberty smiled and waved her hand for Teresa to continue. "Thank you. Now like I was saying, it seemed urgent. But then something weird happened…"

Teresa stopped almost looking nervous herself. Turning her head slightly to the left, she checked to make sure no one was behind her before continuing. "He told me not to mention he had been here…he had been really nice up until that point…then he just changed."

"Odd," Liberty commented. "How did he change?"

"I don't know how to describe it. He had acted like a complete gentleman until then. It was like someone flipped a switch. I felt threatened."

"Did this stranger tell you his name?" Liberty asked.

"Yeah…um…it was Richard…oh what was his last name…Richard …Richard Logan." Teresa replied.

"Richard Logan," Liberty echoed. "What did he look like?"

Teresa thought for a moment. "He was tall and looked to be in his early forties. He had light hair, kind of a shaggy cut, with light colored eyes I think."

Once again Liberty frowned. "He sounds familiar…wait a minute! You said he was tall with light shaggy hair?"

"Yeah," Teresa said. "Why?"

"Remember that man they arrested a few weeks ago? The one who broke into the Old North Church in Boston…looking for that treasure? I think his name was Ian Howe."

It was Teresa's turn to frown. "You don't think it was the same man, do you? I mean it's unlikely that he's already out of jail and is looking for you…wait? You know him?"

"I didn't say that I knew him. I just asked if you remembered him. From what you told me, it sounds like it's the same guy."

"That's stupid," Teresa scoffed. "You're over exaggerating again."

"I am not," Liberty shot back. "For your information, he disappeared a few days ago."

"Why would he come looking for you?"

"I don't know…" Liberty said. "It just doesn't make sense."

Teresa checked her watch and jumped. "I've been down here for close to 45 minutes! I've got to get back upstairs. Those terrors have probably completely destroyed everything…"

She turned and sprinted off in the direction of the escalator. Liberty grinned, but it quickly faded, as she thought about this Richard Logan. Strange was the only thing she could think of to describe what had happened.

Shrugging, she sighed and picked up the evening paper.

Richard Logan watched from behind one of the store displays as the two girls spoke to one another. His eyes were narrowed, and he made a mental note to have another chat with that Teresa woman. It didn't matter that Liberty knew of his existence, but it would make things a bit more difficult, especially since she suspected his actual identity.

Casually, he turned and headed for the exit. He had quite a bit of work ahead of him. More than he actually knew.


End file.
